Eugene Greenhilt
Eugene Greenhilt was an Illusionist and the father of Roy Greenhilt. He was the son of Horace Greenhilt, a skilled and respected fighter. However Eugene grew to be bookish and never really bonded with his father, and in turn, never bonded with his son, who chose to follow in his Grandfather's footsteps as a fighter. Biography ''Start of Darkness'' When he was 11 years old, magical scouters invited him to enroll at Magical University but it took him a year to persuade Horace to let him attend. As a child, he appears to have attended Warthog's School of Wizardry and Sorcery, where at one point Warthog oversaw his magical duel with Suzy Finkelstein.Start of Darkness Eugene graduated and was apprenticed to noted Archmage and Illusionist Fyron Pucebuckle of Cliffport with whom he bonded more than he ever did with his own father, even after his apprenticeship ended. During the following years, Eugene won at least three Wizzie awards for Best Illusionist. One day, an evil sorcerer assaulted Fyron in Cliffport in order to steal his crown. Though Eugene tried to help, the sorcerer trapped him in a force bubble, and he was forced to watch as the two fought in an extended duel that his master lost, with the sorcerer defeating him by clubbing him with his own Wizzie award, followed by zombifying his corpse and killing his son. For years, Eugene attempted to track the killer down, but he would never get closer than a diner he was in for 20 minutes three months prior. He visited the Oracle of the Sunken Valley, where he learned the identity of Fyron's murderer—Xykon. Some time after, he visited a tattoo parlor while drunk and had a tattoo representing a Blood Oath of Vengeance placed on his back, vowing to bring vengeance to Xykon. ''On the Origin of PCs'' After ten years of fruitless hunting, he met and married a woman named Sara and became the father of two children, Roy and Eric. Ten years later, Right-Eye, tired of Goblin subjugation by Xykon, secretly met with Eugene and told him Xykon's location. Eugene declined this opportunity to satisfy his Oath, having abandoned the quest in order to raise his family. However, Eugene left the meeting just in time to miss Roy's soccer game. He tried to explain that he was on the Elemental Plane of Water on business, though Roy never bought it. At that time, Eugene discovered the existence of his second son, having been too busy with his career to notice. Not long after, while Sara is out, Eugene attempted a magical experiment around his two sons. Roy tried to tell him that it was too dangerous, but Eugene didn't listen and an accident happened, killing Eric who was still a toddler. All attempts to resurrect him failed, likely because he was having such a good time in Celestia he didn't answer the spell. This incident led to "a lot of yelling and crying" in the Greenhilt household, and may be what estranged Roy from Eugene and wizardry. Two years later, the family would be joined by Julia. As she grew up, Roy believed that, perhaps in grief or guilt over the death of Eric, her parents doted and spoiled her. Later, Eugene disowned his son when he left Wizardry to attend Bash University and become a fighter like his grandfather. Roy saw his father one last time while studying for a test on Attacks of Opportunity. Eugene was dying and explained his Oath of Vengeance to him, which will be passed to Julia upon his death. Roy then swore to destroy Xykon only to spite Eugene, who only told Roy so he could tell Julia when she's old enough''On the Origin of PCs. Eugene's interruption to his studies caused Roy to only get a C- on the test, which confused him when he was later attacked by a half-orc with a spiked chain abusing the attack of opportunities.Comic #216, "Perfect Combo" ''Dungeon Crawlin' Fools Since he died without fulfilling this oath (and in fact abandoning it), Eugene was unable to enter the Lawful Good afterlife, and remains on the clouds before the gate to this day. With nothing else to do, he has used his time in limbo to try and prod Roy into fulfilling the oath in his place and hooked up with another oathspirit, Violet. Since the Oath only allows his eldest surviving heir to inherit it, Eugene is stuck with Roy being responsible for fulfilling it. Unlike many dead souls, Eugene remains looking exactly as he did in death, as he always had the heart of a shriveled old man. He remains disappointed by Roy's choice of becoming a fighter, having wanted Roy to follow in his footsteps and become a wizard. He is even referred to by Sara as "...can't be happy for his eldest son because he's too busy being unhappy about himself". While Roy and the rest of the Order of the Stick were adventuring in the Dungeon of Dorukan, Eugene appeared to Roy on a regular basis to berate him on his choices as a leader. He first poofs in to deliver a prophecy; "When the goat turns red strikes true". Roy eventually figured out that the prophecy did not pertain to a chimera, but rather to Nale and the rest of the Linear Guild betraying the order. This prompted Haley Starshine to take a shot at Nale from 200 feet away, shattering the Talisman of Dorukan and starting a battle between the Order and the Guild. Later on, during the fight between Roy and Xykon, Xykon destroyed the Greenhilt Sword with a Shatter spell. Because of this, Eugene was unable to contact Roy for a long period of time. ''No Cure for the Paladin Blues'' Luckily for him, he managed instead to hijack a summoning scrying spell and contacted Lord Shojo of Azure City in place of the celestial Tony, and the two crafty elders conspired together to manipulate the Order of the Stick into fulfilling their respective agendas. ''War and XPs'' Upon Roy's death at the hands of Xykon during the Battle of Azure City, he joined his father in the afterlife outside the gates to Mount Celestia. ''Don't Split the Party'' Shortly after Roy's arrival, Violet's Oath was fulfilled, and she left him to meet her husband in Heaven. Eugene's dismay was compounded by the fact that Roy was allowed into the afterlife despite Eugene's oath, since Roy died in the process of attempted to fulfill it. Roy, however, returns a few months later when he realizes that his party hasn't revived him yet, and Roy and Eugene spent a considerable fraction of their time bickering with one another while monitoring the progress of the living members of the Order. Just before Roy was resurrected, he assigned Eugene to warn him whenever Xykon leaves Azure City. Moments after Roy's soul left, a celestial deva gave Eugene a folder detailing Vaarsuvius's dealings with a group of fiends, and told him to show Roy the file the next time he manifested in the living world. Instead, Eugene burned the folder immediately after the deva left, expressing approval for the elf's actions. ''Blood Runs in the Family'' Eugene later attempted to contact Roy and the Order to warn them that Xykon was on his way to Girard's Pyramid, though his warning fell on deaf ears due to the entire Order being under the effects of a powerful illusion spell.Comic #1046, "Literally Heartless" Current Activities He only contacted him again later, while Roy was trying to learn the powers of his ancestral sword on the Mechane while on his way to Firmament.Comic #1045, "Studying Up" By the time that the Order chased down the High Priest of Hel to Firmament, Eugene was the last oathspirit on the clouds and was quite lonely due to his abduction of Tony the Celestial that has resulted in none of the angels or archons speaking with him. Personality and Traits Eugene is vain and self-absorbed. He thinks much of his powers but does not acknowledge his failings, especially to his family. He belittles the powers of fighters, believing that magic is superior to physical strength. Though he was responsible through his negligence for the death of his son, he does not seem to have accepted any blame for the event. Since his death and purgatory of his existence as an oathspirit, he is totally absorbed with his oath being fulfilled so he can continue to the afterlife. He is willing to contemplate great evil, such as Vaarsuvius' familicide or the genocide of the dwarven species as long these means would lead to the destruction of Xykon and Eugene's release. Powers and Abilities *'Illusionist': Eugene is highly skilled with illusions, capable of creating permanent illusions like he did to convince the Sapphire Guard that Belkar was still in prison, or when he masqueraded as a being of pure Law and Good. *'Scrying': His magic abilities also extend to divinations. He uses the scrying pools of Celestia to scry on anyone in the world. This ability is epic-level, penetrating even Xykon's Cloister over Gobbotopia.Comic #510, "Killer View" Gallery Eugene Greenhilt.jpg References Category:Characters Category:Humans Category:Dead Characters Category:Lawful Good Characters Category:Lawful Characters Category:Good Characters Category:Males Category:Wizards Category:Greenhilts